F 

1235 

.M93 


The  Mexican  Revolution  and  the 
Nationalization  of  the  Land 

The  Foreign  Interests  and  Reaction 

by 

DOCTOR    ATL 
/•u* 


\VHITKHALL  BLDO,  ROOM  334,  NEW  YORK 
1915 


Bancroft  Library 


The  Mexican  Revolution  and  the 
Nationalization  of  the  Land 

The  Foreign  Interests  and  Reaction 

by 
DOCTOR    ATL 


This  pamphlet  is  the  translation  of  a  speech  delivered  by  Dr.  Ail 
at  the  "Teatro  Principal"  in  Vera  Cruz,  December  4th,  1914. 

Dr.  Atl  is  very  well-known  in  Mexico,  Italy  and  France  as  an 
artist,  writer  and  thinker  of  great  force,  originality  and  talent. 


The  Nation  and  its  Parties — The  Critical  Moment  for  Action. 

Rigorously  speaking,  the  political  parties  in  Mexico  may  be  divided 
into  four  classes. 

The  party  of  Villa,  which  represents  reaction  in  three  forms: 
specific  barbarism,  embodied  in  the  primitive  man,  General  Villa; 
militarism  represented  by  General  Angeles,  and  the  capitalist  and 
clerical  intrigue  synthethized  by  Dr.  Silva,  the  lawyer  Miguel  Diaz 
Lombardo  and  Somerfeld  the  Jew. 

The  party  of  Zapata,  whose  existence  is  due  principally  to  the 
hunger  of  the  masses  and .  the  secular  Spanish  oppression.  The 
tendencies  of  this  party — although  some  of  its  politicians  pretend  to 
give  it  a  socialist-revolutionary,  or  rather  syndicalist  character — are 
exclusively  communist. 

The  third  division  is  that  of  the  undecided — the  civilians  and 
army-men  from  all  over  the  Republic  who  have  not  had  a  sufficient 
understanding  of  the  situation  to  adopt  a  course  of  action  and  assist 
in  the  regeneration  of  their  country. 

The  fourth  class  is  formed  by  the  party  known  until  now  as  the 
Constitutionalist  party,  and  which  in  spite  of  its  essentially  legal 
name,  carries  in  itself  the  most  fruitful  germs  of  a  thorough  social 
reform.  Having  accomplished  the  mission  of  overthrowing  General 
Huerta  and  annihilating  the  Federal  Army,  it  must  now  put  into 
execution  in  a  determined  manner,  the  reforms  which  the  urgent  needs 
of  the  country  demand. 


I  would  ask — "Which  of  these  four  groups  is  able  to  give,  not 
only  to  the  Nation,  but  to  the  whole  American  Continent,  an  assurance 
of  moral  and  material  advancement?  In  which  of  these  parties  is  the 
spirit  of  liberty  and  justice  more  deeply  rooted?" 

National  spirit,  weak  and  hesitating,  cannot  be  concretely  repre- 
sented, because  a  series  of  disunited  manifestations  cannot  be  repre- 
sented logically  and  concretely.  If  these  reforms  are  to  produce 
results  they  should  be  made  effective  in  spite  of  all  obstacles  put  in 
their  way  by  ancient  prejudices,  written  laws  and  foreign  interests. 

The  moral,  political  and  military  conditions  which  exist  in  the 
Constitutionalist  party  as  present,  combine  the  most  aprpopriate  means 
for  developing  those  principles  which  are  to  give  our  country  the 
liberty  and  prosperity  which  it  has  always  missed. 


A  Trinity  of   Evil-Doers. 

Let  us  analyze  at  a  glance  some  of  the  elements  composing  the 
Northern  Division,  which  is  represented  by  a  trio  creative  of  evil, 
perpetrator  of  hideous  crimes  and  protector  of  all  the  political  and 
social  cast-offs  of  the  past.  This  Trinity  is  composed  of  the  lawyer 
Miguel  Diaz  Lombardo,  a  dissipated  Jesuit;  General  Angeles,  a  man 
moulded  after  porfirian  ideas — a  hypocrite  by  birth  and  a  soldier  by 
profession;  and  General  Villa,  a  product  of  the  quaternary  period, 
who,  by  a  phenomenon  of  retrogression,  which  after  all  is  no  un- 
common thing  in  our  country,  since  we  have  had  to  our  shame  a  Por- 
firio  Diaz  and  a  Victoriano  Huerta — sprung  up  from  the  plains  of 
Chihuahua,  bearing  all  the  animal  characteristics  of  the  first  quad- 
rupeds which  inhabited  our  planet. 

These  two  men  and  this  brute,  can  neither  conceive  nor  make, 
any  political  or  social  reforms  which  could  tend  to  benefit  a  people. 
They  are  after  individual  gain,  they  defend  the  interests  of  corpora- 
tions which  have  been  the  cause  in  Mexico  of  political  disturbances 
and  the  oppression  of  the  people  and  which  are :  the  clergy,  the  army 
and  foreign  investors. 

Diaz  Lombardo,  a  man  of  unpretentious  manners,  patient  and 
foxy,  has  been  the  intellectual  director  of  Villa's  treachery,  with 
General  Angeles  as  a  medium.  He  suggested  and  guided  the  acts  of 
General  Angeles  from  the  time  that  Angeles  went  to  Paris  with  a 
special  commission  from  General  Huerta,  and  he  continued  to  counsel 
him  from  the  French  Capital  by  cable  and  written  communications, 
after  General  Angeles  arrived  on  the  field  of  action. 

I  was  unable  to  understand  certain  strange  acts  of  some  of  the 
members  of  the  Revolutionary  Committee  in  Paris  and  specially  of 
Diaz  Lombardo,  unil  I  arrived  in  Washington  in  the  month  of  June 
when  the  rebellion  in  Torreon  broke  out.  I  then  cabled  to  differet 
members  of  the  Revolutionary  Committee  in  Paris,  and  from  their 
replies  it  was  easy  to  see  that  Diaz  Lombardo  and  other  members  of 


said  Committee  had  thought  it  convenient  to  come  out  in  the  open. 
It  was  then  that  Diaz  Lombardo  decided  to  return  to  Mexico  so  as  to 
exert  his  influence  more  directly  over  Villa  and  Angeles. 

Among  other  efforts  made  by  these  three  men  to  deal  a  decisive 
blow  to  Constitutionalism,  there  was  one  feat  of  a  piratical  character 
which  came  very  near  being  successfully  accomplished.  Angeles  and 
Diaz  Lombardo,  feigning  great  zeal  for  the  Constitutionalist  cause, 
for  which  they  claimed  to  be  working,  took  steps  to  purchase  a  steamer 
in  Italy  for  the  sum  of  i  100,000 — sterling,  with  the  idea  of  fitting  it 
out  for  war,  and  taking  possession  of  Matamoros  and  Tampico  by 
surprise.  This  scheme  came  very  near  being  successful,  and  Diaz 
Lombardo  himself  was  getting  ready  to  go  and  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  expedition,  dreaming  dreams  of  himself  as  the  modern  Con- 
queror of  the  New  World!  Unfortunately  for  them,  the  Cientificos 
taking  part  in  this  enterprise  were  distrustful,  either  of  the  seaman- 
ship of  Diaz  Lombardo,  or  of  Villa's  docility,  or  they  could  not  get 
together  sufficient  money  to  buy  the  phantom  ship.  But  the  fact 
remains  that  the  deal  was  almost  put  through  and  that  a  commission 
of  foreigners  left  Paris  to  go  to  Genoa  to  inspect  the  ship,  take 
possession  of  it  and  set  out  for  Mexico.  Had  this  feat  been  realized, 
what  an  interesting  account  of  "Pirates  in  Frock-coats"  Venegas 
Arroyo  might  have  written  for  us ! 

Diaz  Lombardo  has  been  an  unlucky  star  to  our  country,  both  in 
his  administrative  and  individual  activities  during  the  revolutionary 
period  following  the  overthrow  of  General  Diaz.  Two  facts  supply 
ample  proof  of  this :  his  recommending  or  rather  imposing  General 
Huerta  on  Madero  as  Chief  of  the  Army,  and  his  introducing  General 
Angeles  in  the  Constitutionalist  party.  The  two  proteges  of  the  Ex- 
Secretary  of  the  Educational  Department  have  produced  two  national 
catastrophes. 

The  Northern  Faction  an  Obstacle  to  Liberty  and  Justice. 

To  describe  Villa  would  be  a  useless  task.  If  all  his  actions  did 
not  suffice  to  bring  to  light  the  barbarism  of  this  Neanderthal  savage, 
the  declarations  made  by  General  Alvarado  and  the  photograph  ac- 
companying same,  plainly  reveal  the  character  of  the  individual  whom 
the  capitalist-clerical-military  league  are  using  as  a  tool  to  drag  the 
country  back  into  another  and  a  worse  state  of  oppression.  This 
photograph  published  by  General  Alvarado,  is  the  most  stinging  ac- 
cusation ever  made  against  the  leader  of  a  party.  The  synthetic  force 
and  indisputable  exactness  of  photographic  art  have  made  in  this 
instance  a  more  clear  and  convincing  illustration  than  could  have  been 
made  by  the  most  accomplished  caricaturist  of  our  times.  As  to 
General  Angeles,  the  fact  that  he  is  an  Indian,  brought  up  in  military 
training  during  the  time  of  General  Diaz,  is  sufficient  to  understand 
that  behind  his  apparent  modesty  and  discipline,  hides  the  hand  of  a 
tyrant. 


Besides  the  three  men  just  described,  there  are  in  the  Northern 
Division,  as  everybody  knows,  a  great  many  lawyers,  commission 
merchants,  newspaper  men,  and  ambitious  Mexicans  and  foreigners, 
representing  everything  under  the  sun,  except  the  interests  of  the 
nation. 

Moreover  the  Northern  Division,  apart  from  its  political  and 
clerical  tendencies,  and  of  being  the  genuine  representative  of  inter- 
national capitalism,  carries  in  itself  as  its  primal  reason  of  existence, 
the  pretorian  spirit  of  most  abject  militarism.  This  alone  would 
suffice  to  issue  its  death-warrant. 

If  the  Diaz-Lombardo- Angeles- Villa  f acton  were  able  to  obtain 
preponderance  in  our  country,  it  would  be  preferable  for  the  sake  of 
civilization  in  general  and  for  our  reputation  in  particular,  to  make 
of  our  whole  country,  one  great,  big  bonfire.  To  crush  that  faction, 
even  at  the  risk  of  being  crushed  ourselves,  is  not  only  our  duty  to 
our  country,  but  it  is  also  our  duty  to  humanity.  Its  growth  would  be 
a  serious  obstacle  to  the  cause  of  Liberty,  Justice  and  Progress  in 
America. 


The  Biggest  Error  of  the  Zapatistas. 

The  Zapatistas  committed  the  grave  error  of  allying  themselves 
with  Villa.  The  principles  of  the  Zapatistas  and  Villistas  are  anti- 
thetical. The  Revolution  of  the  South  is  a  violent  outbreak  of  an 
intense  popular  need;  it  commands  respect  in  spite  of  its  errors  and 
it  is  just  although  transgressions  might  have  been  committed  in  its 
name.  It  is  the  spontaneous  manifestation  of  an  oppressed  people, 
generated  by  hunger  and  secular  oppression. 

The  Northern  Division  is  the  champion  of  the  interests  of  foreign 
capitalists,  the  shield  of  the  clergy  and  the  embryo  of  militarism.  How 
did  it  happen  that  the  men  of  the  South  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
their  own  enemies?  I  believe  this  alliance  can  be  explained  as  the 
result  of  a  simple  grudge.  Spite  felt  by  the  men  of  the  southern 
faction  because  the  Constitutionalists  passed  them  unnoticed  without 
asking  them  to  take  part  in  the  provisional  Government  which  was 
established  in  Mexico  at  the  exit  of  Carvajal. 

When  on  October  last,  General  Zapata  told  me  of  his  intention 
to  ally  himself  to  General  Villa,  I  did  everything  in  my  power  to 
make  him  give  up  this  idea,  but  my  efforts  were  fruitless,  as  were 
also  those  of  some  of  his  followers,  who  were  opposed  to  an  alliance 
with  Villa.  The  cleverness  and  perseverance  of  General  Villa's  agents 
had  already  misled  the  freedom-loving  tendencies  of  the  healthy  ele- 
ment of  the  Southern  Revolution,  and  had  even  got  General  Zapata's 
intransigence  to  yield. 

This  intransigence  of  General  Zapata,  which  remained  unabated 
in  the  face  of  five  presidents — this  intransigence,  which  was  the  fruit 
of  a  great  faith  and  which  constituted  an  undeniable  moral  strength 

4 


succumbed  in  a  moment  of  political  sentimentalism,  and  by  an  irony 
of  fate,  fell  precisely  into  the  hands  of  the  one  enemy  of  the  southern 
revolution,  and  that  is :  reaction. 

What  occurred  in  connection  with  the  Zapatistas,  can  be  com- 
pared to  a  not  uncommon  phenomenon  sometimes  seen  in  the  human 
body.  When  a  part  of  the  human  mechanism  does  not  perform  its 
duty,  it  stiffens  and  becomes  paralyzed.  Zapata's  army,  secluded  in 
the  mountains  was  anxious  to  do  its  duty  in  national  politics — but 
intercourse  being  cut  off  between  them  and  the  other  national  move- 
ment, when  their  time  came  for  doing  their  duty  to  the  nation,  they 
were  unfit  for  the  part,  deprived  of  political  tactics.  And  the  intellects 
of  the  Southern  Revolution  were  tangled  up  in  the  affair,  and  thus 
used,  through  the  craft  of  Angeles  and  Villa. 

Zapatismo,  which  was  for  more  than  five  years  the  most  genuine 
revolutionary  movement  of  our  history,  rapidly  changed  into  a  danger- 
ous element  of  reaction,  because  of  the  assistance  it  is  giving  the 
Northern  Division,  and  because  the  elements  of  intense  fanatism 
which  it  carries  might  assume  gigantic  proportions  in  a  short  time. 

Zapatismo  and  Villismo  united  form  an  indefensible  anomaly. 

From  the  view-point  of  principle  and  also  from  a  military  point 
of  view,  there  are  only  two  solutions  possible;  either  the  partial  ab- 
sorption of  the  revolutionary  groups  of  the  south  by  Villismo,  or  the 
sudden  disintegration  of  the  elements  which  pretend  to  form  this  new 
league,  which  might  be  given  the  absurd  title  of  "Military  Libertarian." 
In  either  case,  reaction  will  have  gained  ground. 

Those  forming  the  undecided,  hesitating  portion,  who  during 
social  perturbations  constitute  the  wavering  mass  which  may  at  any 
moment  go  to  swell  the  ranks  of  one  or  the  other  side — these  slowly 
make  up  their  minds  to  join  one  or  the  other,  but  not  until  they  have 
made  sure  which  side  will  come  out  victorious. 

Large  is  the  number  of  men  on  whom  the  republic  had  built 
great  hopes,  who  have  succumbed  in  a  moment  of  political  uncon- 
sciousness, and  how  many  popular  groups,  carried  away  by  the  treach- 
ery of  one  man,  have  made  an  obstacle,  however  transient,  to  the 
onward  march  of  progress!  The  Revolution  should  knock  at  the 
conscience  of  these  men  and  these  groups — the  spirit  of  justice,  the 
cause,  demand  it! 

Constitutionalism  Alone  can  Guarantee  the  Rights  of  the  People. 

The  fourth  category  is  the  Constitutionalist  party,  which  combines 
military  and  intellectual  elements,  vivified  by  the  true  revolutionary 
spirit.  This  is  the  party  that  can  guarantee  to  the  oppressed  land  of 
Anahuac,  the  well-being  and  rights  of  its  inhabitants,  but  this  with  the 
condition  that  the  reforms  to  be  made  shall  be  thoroughly  and  rapidly 
executed. 


The  Constitutionalist  party  is,  among  all  those  taking  part  in  the 
present  struggle,  the  one  that  best  understands  the  interests  of  the 
people.  The  men  surrounding  the  First  Chief  are  those  who  have 
most  to  heart,  the  desire  of  satisfying  the  people's  requirements  and 
the  military  element  which  surrounds  him  is  also  the  one  which  can 
successfully  eliminate  all  obstacles  which  oppose  the  realization  of  the 
reforms  demanded  by  the  people. 

The  First  Chief  stated  in  a  clear  and  definite  manner,  the  very 
night  he  arrived  in  Vera  Cruz  "To-day  begins  the  social  revolution." 
This  is  well  understood  by  some  of  the  most  valuable  military  and 
civil  elements  who,  arriving  in  this  heroic  little  city  from  the  capital, 
have  firmly  decided  to  collaborate  with  him.  But  at  the  present 
moment,  the  party  lacks  cohesion — its  acts  are  not  unanimous,  either 
from  a  political,  or  military  point  of  view. 

This  is  a  critical  moment  for  the  nation  and  also  for  the  party! 
It  is  now  that  we  must  keep  our  minds  clear  and  our  pulses  firm,  so 
that  we  may  be  able  to  steer  clear  of  the  rocks !  I  know  well  that  in 
the  strong  hearts  and  healthy  minds  of  the  brave  men  who  are  used 
to  wrestling  with  nature  in  the  mountains  and  forests,  a  ruling  tend- 
ency to  righteousness  predominates — the  kind  of  righteousness  that 
will  help  to  clear  the  chaos  of  the  present  situation,  but  I  also  know 
that  if  all  the  parts  that  form  the  whole  do  not  work  in  harmony, 
and  if  each  man  or  group  of  men  tries  to  impose  his  views — if  the 
efforts  are  not  united  and  strong  and  do  not  act  independently  of 
existing  pre judgments  and  interests,  the  struggle  will  be  prolonged 
indefinitely,  and  when  we  look  for  the  body  of  the  Nation,  in  order 
to  heal  its  wounds,  we  shall  find  instead a  corpse. 

We  have  made  mistakes,  and  some  of  them  serious — as  is  that 
of  not  having  proclaimed  the  nationalization  of  the  lands — agrarian 
question — as  is  also  that  of  having  tolerated  the  interference  of  foreign 
nations  in  our  interior  affairs  (tacit  consent  of  foreign  intervention) 
also  having  neglected  the  propaganda  of  our  views,  in  our  own  country 
and  throughout  the  world :  dangerous  neglect,  which  our  enemies  have 
intelligently  used  to  their  advantage. 

The  solutions  found  for  the  agrarian  problem  are  very  vague. 
Programs  for  the  solution  of  this  same  question  in  different  countries 
where  the  same  difficulty  has  come  up,  may  be  divided  into  three 
different  headings. 

The  first  and  simplest  is  the  one  which  tries  to  solve  the  problem 
by  the  law ;  respecting  the  rights  of  proprietorship  and  permitting  the 
wealthy  to  remain  the  owners  of  the  lands,  without  giving  the  people 
who  work  these  lands  the  slightest  possibility  of  ever  coming  into  the 
possession  of  that  which  rightfully  belongs  to  them.  This  program, 
as  well  as  all  those  where  Law  is  brought  to  bear,  is  altogether  out  of 
the  question  and  cannot  even  be  considered  by  the  Revolution. 

The  next  and  second  soluton  is  that  by  which  all  lands  and 
properties  seized  are  returned  to  their  owners,  whether  they  be  cor- 

6 


porations  or  individuals,  and  which  provides  for  the  confiscation  of 
lands  not  cultivated,  which  are  to  be  divided  among  the  people. 

The  third  and  best  solution  is  the  one  that  a  social  revolution 
should  propose  to  carry  out,  and  that  is:  the  nationalization  of  the 
land.  This  is  the  program  that  our  revolution  should  adopt.  Like  all 
great  transformations,  this  solution  frightens  the  Revolutionists  them- 
selves. But  it  is  the  right  one,  and  why  hesitate  ?  All  the  land,  from 
Bravo  to  Yucatan,  should  be  confiscated  in  the  name  of  the  people 
and  this  regardless  of  individual  rights  or  foreigners'  properties. 
Why  should  we  respect  the  concessions  made  to  Pearson,  or  the 
wholesale  robberies  of  Inigo  Noriega,  or  the  usurpation  of  natives  and 
foreigners  in  Morelos,  in  Puebla,  and  lastly  of  the  neo-Cientificos  in 
the  States  of  Chihuahua  and  Durango  ? 

International  complications  should  not  deter  us.  In  the  first  place 
we  have  the  right  to  do  justice,  and  secondly — at  present  the  European 
nations  are  sufficiently  occupied  in  settling  their  complicated  and 
somewhat  dubious  affairs,  to  attempt  to  interfere  with  us  while  we 
accomplish  the  noblest  act  of  social  justice  done  in  these  modern 
times ! 

Some  other  time  I  shall  explain  in  detail,  my  idea  for  the  nationali- 
zation of  the  lands. 


The  Problem  of  Distribution  of  Lands  Does  Not  Exist. 

If  we  are  to  believe  history,  we  are  now  at  the  most  opportune 
moment  in  which  to  realize  the  dream  of  free  men,  who  in  all  the 
ages  have  protested — from  either  a  philosophical  or  scientific,  or 
practical  point  of  view — against  the  monstrous  injustice  of  the  earth 
being  monopolized  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  do  not  work  it.  It  is 
our  sacred  duty  to  accomplish  a  task  of  national  recovery — which  is  at 
the  same  time  an  act  of  elevated  and  practical  philanthropy.  Inter- 
national Socialism — which  comprises  a  large  number  of  clear-minded 
men  who  are  struggling  for  economic  equality  in  every  country — will 
assist  us  in  our  task. 

In  Mexico,  we  would  never  arrive  at  a  just  and  final  solution  of 
what  is  called  the  "agrarian  problem"  if  we  satisfy  ourselves  with 
handing  back  to  the  different  localities  and  townships,  the  properties 
taken  from  them — and  with  confiscating  the  properties  held  by  the 
favourites  of  Diaz,  Huerta  or  Villa. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  problem  of  the  distribution  of  lands  does 
not  exist — but  there  exists  the  complicated  problem  of  "the  distribution 
of  the  land."  The  land  that  has  been  abused,  confiscated,  trampled 
underfoot,  covered  with  blood,  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  a  group  of 
native  and  foreign  promoters,  who  squander  in  the  decorating  of  a 
palatial  residence  of  vulgar  taste,  or  in  the  cabarets  of  Montmartre 
the  hard-gained  earnings  of  a  people  who  has  been  going  hungry  for 
the  last  three  hundred  years ! 


This  hunger  of  the  mases  is  precisely  the  biggest  factor  of  all 
national  revolutions.  If  we  have  not  the  courage  to  give  the  people 
what  belongs  to  them  by  natural  rights  and  by  the  rights  of  conquest— 
for  it  is  they  who  cultivate  the  earth  and  make  it  yield — they  will 
continue  to  clamor,  always  and  forever,  for  that  which  is  unquestion- 
ably theirs.  We  must  not  hesitate  any  longer — injustice  has  reigned 
supreme  long  enough — let  us  now  deal  justice  to  them.  Justice  must 
be  done  now,  and  it  must  be  done  quickly.  And  we  must  give  the 
people  the  land  not  according  to  the  theories  of  Kropotkin,  or  the 
resolutions  of  the  legislators  of  New  Zealand,  or  the  decision  of  a 
magnanimous  Russian  monarch,  or  following  the  theories  of  this  or 
that  French  or  German  socialist,  or  following  the  wise  suggestions  of 
some  group  of  bankers,  or  some  economist  on  the  style  of  Leroy- 
Beaulieu— NO— WE  MUST  GIVE  THE  LAND  TO  THE  PEOPLE 
FOLLOWING  THE  ONE  AND  ONLY  LAW  WHICH  SHOULD 
GOVERN  THE  PROPRIETORSHIP  OF  THE  LAND— "The 
earth  belongs  to  him  who  works  it." 

And  here  in  Mexico  the  land  is  not  tilled  by  Inigo  Noriega,  nor 
Pablo  Macedo,  nor  the  Pearson  people — it  is  worked  by  eight  million 
men,  who  are  nevertheless,  homeless  and  starving,  and  who  are  given 
the  right  to  live,  only  in  order  to  be  made  slaves  in  the  name  of  foreign 
diplomacy,  or  to  be  degraded  in  the  interests  of  public  peace. 

Nature  gives  every  man  the  right  to  a  piece  of  land. 

That  former  generations  have  not  been  able  to  enforce  this  right, 
is  no  reason  why  WE  should  not  proclaim  it  and  enforce  it,  in  spite 
of  all  written  laws,  ancestral  prejudices,  or  the  phantom  fear  of  inter- 
national intervention. 

A  Shameful  Tutelage. 

If  the  European  nations  ever  should  dare  to  intervene  with  armed 
forces  in  Mexico,  such  an  intervention  would  not  be  more  degrading 
to  our  dignity,  nor  more  harmful  to  our  interests,  than  is  the  vicious 
pressure  exercised  by  them  from  the  time  of  General  Diaz.  This 
illegal  pressure  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  shameful  tutelage,  or. 
to  express  it  more  clearly,  a  political  intervention  which  grievously 
harms  the  honor  of  the  nation  and  the  welfare  of  its  inhabitants. 

While  we  remain  under  this  influence,  and  in  fear  of  the  threat 
of  European  powers,  we  shall  be  able  to  make  no  useful  reforms  of  a 
comprehensive  nature,  and  the  whole  life  of  the  nation  will  continue 
to  depend  on  the  unsatiable  ambition  of  an  oil-developig  firm,  and  on 
the  grasping  insolence  of  a  group  of  Spaniards. 

Without  quoting  any  isolated  facts  to  show  to  what  a  degree 
Mexico  has  been  under  foreign  influence,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  recall 
that  when  Madero's  Government  was  overthrown,  a  government  which 
was  essentially  popular,  the  foreign  diplomats  in  Mexico  contributed 
to  a  great  extent,  both  morally  and  materially,  to  this  overthrow — 

8 


and  the  recognition  of  General  Huerta  as  president,  and  his  duration 
in  power,  was  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Pearson  people  in  London. 

"There  is  no  doubt,  affirms  the  SUN,  that  great  efforts  were  made 
in  England  to  force  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  to  come  to  an 
agreement  with  the  present  Mexican  Government.  No  one  is  ignorant 
of  the  fact  that  the  British  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  was  acting 
under  secret  orders  as  regards  Huerta's  recognition,  and  the  fact  of 
Huerta  remaining  always  very  friendly  to  that  nation,  is  no  secret. 
Everyone  may  draw  his  own  conclusions,  but  one  might  ask  without 
indiscretion  if  the  Oil  concessions  given  to  the  English  company  were 
not  a  part  of  the  agreement." 

Great  Britain  had  changed  the  system  of  fueling  her  navy, 
substituting  petroleum  for  coal.  Petroleum  could  not  be  found 
cheap  and  in  sufficiently  great  quantities,  in  Russia  or  the  Balkans, 
so  the  Pearson  people  devoted  long  years  and  large  sums  of  money 
to  find  oil  deposits  in  Mexico.  They  found  them,  and  the  Diaz'  admini- 
stration gave  them  fabulous  concessions :  The  improvement  of  the  port 
of  Vera  Cruz,  and  the  right  to  work,  in  conditions  which  were  ruinous 
for  Mexico,  the  oil-lands  of  the  States  of  Vera  Cruz  and  Tamaulipas. 

When  Diaz  fell,  the  Revolutionary  Government  annulled  the  con- 
cessions given  to  the  Pearson  people.  Madero  was  an  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  the  ambitions  of  the  British  company,  and  of  the  needs  of  the 
British  fleet.  The  diplomatic  corps  in  the  capital  vilely  aided  the 
English  representative  and  Lane  Wilson,  U.  S.  Ambassador. 

When  Victoriano  Huerta  took  the  reins  of  the  government,  he 
was  immediately  recognized  by  the  British  Government  and  everyone 
will  recall  how  this  recognition  of  the  British  Government  caused 
much  surprise  in  all  the  political  circles  of  Europe,  which  gave  rise 
to  an  appeal  by  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  8th  of  July,  1913.  This 
appeal,  voiced  by  Mr.  Johnson  Hinks,  brought  no  satisfactory  reply. 
Huerta  not  only  confirmed  to  Lord  Cowdray  the  concessions  given  by 
Diaz,  but  he  gave  new  privileges  to  Lord  Cowdray  himself  as  well  as 
to  his  representatives,  the  Belgian  syndicates  and  European  ministers. 

These  concessions  were  so  exorbitant  that  Lord  Charles  Beresford 
declared,  on  August  17th,  1914,  that  any  other  Government  outside  of 
Huerta's  was  entitled  to  revise  the  concessions  to  Lord  Cowdray, 
because  they  were  onerous  and  scandalous. 

The  permanence  of  General  Huerta  in  power  is  due  mostly  to 
the  diplomatic  and  financial  assistance  of  the  Pearson  people,  for  it 
was  through  them  that  General  Huerta  was  able  to  obtain  in  Europe, 
money,  arms  and  official  protection.  But  we  must  add  that  the  official 
circles  of  Germany  gave  efficient  help  to  the  usurper,  and  we  shall 
not  forget  that  it  was  the  Emperor  of  Germany  who  lent  to  his 
colleague,  Victoriano  Huerta,  a  German  warship  which  enabled  Huerta 
to  elude  the  punishment  he  so  well  deserved! 

These  underhand  transactions  are  nothing  short  of  an  actual  inter- 
vention in  our  interior  affairs,  and  are  infinitely  more  harmful  to  our 

9 


national  dignity  and  interests,  than  was  the  occupation  of  the  port  of 
Vera  Cruz  by  the  American  troops. 

Let  us  therefore  defy  the  threats  of  Europe,  and  tear  the  mask 
off  the  faces  of  these  foreign  commercial  intriguers !  This  is  the  only 
way  in  which  we  shall  be  able  to  make  in  our  country,  the  economic, 
political  and  social  reforms  which  the  nations  has  been  demanding 
for  so  many  years. 

Propaganda  Has  Strengthened  Reaction. 

To  make  our  actions  more  effective,  we  must  diffuse  our  principles 
throughout  the  country,  and  organize  an  extensive  propaganda  in 
defense  of  our  ideas,  in  our  own  country  and  also  outside — similar 
to  what  is  being  done  by  Argentina. 

The  reaction  which  has  sprung  up  and  which  is  headed  to-day  by 
Villa  and  Angeles,  has  made  itself  known,  not  in  the  battles  of  Tor- 
reon  and  Zacatecas,  but  by  its  propaganda  in  the  United  States,  Paris 
and  London.  The  conditions  of  modern  life  make  it  impossible  to 
bring  a  campaign  of  any  kind  to  a  successful  end,  without  the  aid  of 
the  press. 

The  publicity  we  give  our  revolution  in  foreign  countries,  will 
reflect  back  upon  our  own  country,  after  gaining  the  sympathy  and 
assistance  of  the  world,  which  it  richly  deserves. 

From  the  time  of  Francisco  Madero,  international  propaganda  in 
favor  of  the  Revolution  has  been  neglected.  From  1913  to  1914,  when 
I  was  carrying  on  a  revolutionary  publicity  campaign  in  Paris,  I  was 
able  to  fathom  the  political  importance  which  the  press  and  public 
opinion  have  in  the  success  of  enterprises  of  any  kind,  not  excepting 
those  of  a  political  and  social  nature.  If  in  Europe,  America  and 
Asia,  we  do  not  proclaim  and  defend,  the  nobleness  of  our  principles 
and  the  aims  of  our  Revolution — after  mastering  our  own  country, 
we  shall  find  difficulties  awaiting  us  on  the  outside  which  will  not  be 
easily  overcome.  The  publicity  and  information  service  organized  by 
our  enemies  in  the  United  States  and  Europe,  have  done  much  harm 
to  our  cause. 

The  Effects  of  our  Revolution  may  attain  a  World-Wide  Importance. 

The  Mexican  Revolution  is  one  of  the  keenest  manifestations 
of  the  world's  conflict.  It  portrays  the  character  of  the  conflagration 
that  is  so  violently  shaking  the  world.  The  telluric,  racial,  economic 
and  political  conditions  of  Mexico,  put  us  in  a  position  to  solve,  in  a 
satisfactory  manner  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  continent,  the 
great  social  problems  which  confront  us.  The  reforms  effected  in 
Mexico  by  this  revolutionary  movement,  may  serve  the  world  as  an 
example  of  a  true  social  renovation  and  true  justice,  and  our  action 
may  attain  universal  importance,  if  we  make  it  thorough  and  unpre- 
judiced. 

10 


The  disintegrations  which  have  taken  place  within  the  revolution 
must  not  frighten  or  discourage  us — they  are  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  the  deep  commotion  of  the  whole  organism.  In  other  words : 
a  natural  selection  of  the  different  elements  which  constitute  the 
character,  aspirations,  ambitions  and  needs — the  life — of  the  race. 

The  one  essential  thing  is  that  during  these  commotions,  the  men 
and  the  principles  which  must  guide  the  afflicted  conscience  of  the 
nation,  remain  unshaken. 

"The  social  revolution  is  going  to  begin"  has  said  the  First  Chief — 
but  how? 

We  are  not  confronting  an  ideological  problem.  We  have  before 
us  real  necessities  which  must  be  analyzed  fearlessly  and  firmly,  and 
we  must  find  for  these  necessities,  not  arbitrary  solutions,  as  required 
by  one  group  or  another,  but  solutions  which  will  completely  satisfy 
the  irresistible  necessities  of  the  whole  nation. 

If  the  program  we  adopt  satisfies  completely  the  necessities  of 
the  masses,  all  the  world  will  second  our  efforts.  But  if  we  fear  to 
destroy  the  past  and  do  not  act  regardless  of  created  interests — if 
we  fear  to  trample  down  barbarous  beliefs  and  mercenary  diplomats 
and  limit  ourselves  to  partial  reforms  of  existing  evils,  and  weakly 
considerations — the  world  will  either  freeze  us  with  its  indifference 
or  oppose  our  action — and  the  people  of  Mexico  will  continue  to  bear 
the  yoke  of  oppression  and  misery  in  the  midst  of  a  fruitless  struggle ! 


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